After an historic, generation-long prison expansion, American prisons are
now releasing more than 600,000 inmates each year. The punishment doesn't
end at the prison gates. On the outside, ex-prisoners face tattered
connections to family and more closed doors. They also pose a challenge
for the places they go home to.

SIDEBARGate MoneySee what each state gives people when they leave their prison system.Durham PerspectivesWhat would experts and community activists like to see happen to those who commit crimes and those about to be released?

Scraping ByEddie did five years and two months in New Jersey State prisons. He paid his debt. Now he just wants a job.

Marsha and SonsWhen Marsha went to prison in 1994, she left behind two sons, ages four and
two. Now she's about to be released. Her challenge is to rebuild her family.

Collateral Damage: East DurhamTo most people, locking up a criminal is like pulling a weed. It can only
make the garden healthier. But people who commit crimes are also fathers
and sons, mothers and daughters. What are the costs in the life of a
community when hundreds of people in a single neighborhood get locked up - then sent home?

MORE AMERICAN RADIOWORKS REPORTING ON PRISONS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE:

Corrections, Inc. How corporations, prison guard unions, and police agencies help to shape who gets locked up and for how long.